AH is Tibetan. It is an important syllable used in the practice of Tantra, or rather Vajrayana. In English it indicates pain! I'm not joking! The idea of pain is essential in Buddhism, but it is really just the beginning. Pain, or better suffering, also understood as dissatisfaction, is the beginning of the Buddhist path. It was so for Siddhartha, and it is so for us Buddhists. Without experiencing dissatisfaction or pain in its multitude of forms, it is highly unlikely we will be motivated to go through the practices of Buddhism and especially highly repetitive meditation.

As a concept it can be difficult for modern man to accept pain as inspiration as a beginning. But in truth this is how it is. As any helper will tell you, and it doesn't matter if they are doctors, psychoanalysts, or new-age healers, the healing process can only take place once the person admits and accepts that they are suffering and in pain. This must be then followed by the willingness to ask for help, either from within or from without.

There is plenty of suffering in the world. The world is littered with innumerable forms of it. Do we close our eyes to it, or become depressed? Starting with ourselves we can all agree that dissatisfaction is present in life at certain times and this is true whether we are safe and sound, from a good family and rich.

The Buddha had plenty to say with relation to pain, suffering and dissatisfaction and his message was one of hope. It is hope that begins with being sober and ready to look directly at the world as it is and not as we believe it to be.The journey begins with the first noble truth; there is suffering.

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About Me

I'm a Life Coach, Core Shamanic Counsellor and meditation teacher to boot. I also teach English in Trieste, Italy. I follow a non-traditional expression of Buddhism and also run occasional events over the border from Trieste in Slovenia on Shamanism. Email me if you're curious about any of these activities.

Benvenuti (welcome)

This blog started out as an experiment. It continues to be such to this day. The opinions you will find in these pages are my own, and like all material on this Earth, are subject to change due to that hidden factor of impermanence.

This blog started out as an experiment. Writing is an art and one which I am only now starting to develop any capacity in. All of my writing constitutes a learning process in the presentation of ideas, opinions and experience. I am no expert, but I am doing my best to develop and learn from each piece I publish.

This blog started out as an experiment. I've no idea where it will end up. I explore Buddhist and Shamanic themes in this blog. Both areas which interest a fairly small percentage of Western society. Therefore this blog is quite specialist. It goes one step further by not representing any particular tradition in either of these spiritual arenas, although I have grounding in two shamanic worlds; one a path, the other an approach to counselling. My experience of Buddhism is primarily within the Tibetan and Theravada traditions.